Mission Barpak, My Expectation and Realization
They have already commenced to construct their structure again with the same techniques so that must be improvised promptly by providing technical assistance to them.
Earthquake does not kill people, it’s their structure which kills them, this was the statement I was stuck some years back when I was involved in a small discussion about possible earthquake in Kathmandu. Working in major cities I had seen many houses with good foundation and solid structure and I was even in a dilemma to assert the statement as many queries had bounded me to accept it. I was clear in this statement when I visited Barpak, a beautiful place where the epicenter of Gorkha Earthquake was located which washed away many life and asset. With around 7 hour’s vehicle travel and around 5 hours uphill hectic climbing, my heart was beating with different expectations and assumptions. There were bombardments of thoughts such as there might have been an immense impact, there mightn’t be a single house which could have resist an earthquake and many more. It was already around 7 pm by the time we reach the place as we commenced to climb the uphill at 
around 1.30 pm, it was my first experience where I was struggling to be in barkpak and my inner thoughts were struggling more with many negative thoughts. It was a nightmare for me as I had never struggle in such a way to reach any place and equally my excitement was enormous as I wanted to see the place with my eyes. When we were in our destination place, the place was already covered by the darkness and we were welcomed by the heavy rainfall so i had no option to wait till tomorrow to see the panoramic view of barpak.
With the tired body and wet attire I couldn’t feel myself as my legs were aching. My excitement was so much that I wake up early in the morning and here I come with a beautiful panoramic view of splendid Barpak, I was surrounded by mountains and could see the Buddha himal right in front which was really fascinating for me. I could see a big village and many temporary houses and even some RCC structures. There my assumption went wrong where I thought in my way about the place; it was really beautiful place to be. With my team members, we went to hunt the real picture of the place, when
I was travelling, I was really moved with the humble nature of the villagers, I could feel their expectation in their eyes, when my crew members were introducing me as a civil engineer, and they had so many queries. It was really a very good moment for me as I could feel my importance there. I felt why I am late to be in this place when this place needs me a long back.
I started to investigate the technical aspect of their construction deeds, and then I was amused with the techniques they apply, I was asking myself as I have never thought of such construction practice. It was completely non engineering practice and it was quite obvious to have such destruction. They were having load bearing structure where they have wall construct with stones without using any bonding materials within. It was literally piling up the stones one after another and the very next stories was built with the wood frames and they have roofing where they arrange flat stones for temperature resistance. It was beyond my imagination as there were no wonders for me for such destruction. I was passing by from one place to another and could feel the tragic moment they had to encounter. It was pretty obvious for me as most of the structures made up of stones were partially or completely collapsed. I also checked the ground profile and concluded that the bed rock is made up of hard strata rock.
Moving on and on observing the beautiful village with tragic stories, struggling and many more, I could feel the glimpse of opportunity that people want to explore. They were posing us, when shall government address our problems, how will be our upcoming house model, is earthquake following back and many more. I had heard that many organizations, experts have visited barpak and plan the village accordingly but these things left doubtful impression in my heart when I was with Barpak’s people. We saw many people have commenced to build up their house again, they have excitement for this deeds but I was timid with their construction deeds which was the same old techniques for which 
they had to pay such a big lump sum. I requested them why they are approaching with the same techniques when there are many ways of improvisation for these way of construction, Many workers were complaining me that they were not made aware by any experts till date about the ways of improvising it. They were very excited to learn the new techniques and I can feel their eyes looking up to me for some good tips. It was also very difficult for me to reach each and every place to explain them the techniques. We arranged a small interaction program where I could share my ideas of improvisation for earthquake resistance structure and was very happy to address their queries. I also felt the need of workshop, training for those local masons promptly. I also feel the research that need to be perform for the upcoming planning of the village. We observed many RCC buildings as well which were partially damaged and there were limited RCC building with major damage. I could sense that RCC structure can be best alternative for the place where we can swift the architectural view of those previous houses in it. Considering the local material, economy, manpower and public interest of reconstruction, we also can work out for the same stone house but with the improvised structure for earthquake resistance construction technics.
provised promptly by providing technical assistance to them. The immediate needs for the place that we feel are roadway to the place which has added tremendous challenge to bring many things to the barpak, the roads are filled with landslides deposit in many places, and the electricity problem is another challenging aspect, pure drinking water scarcity, Health problems and many more. Finally after 4 days stay, our team returned back with all the required information. I was very happy to be in a place as I could at least help them as far as I could and learn many things from them. Their humble nature and astute expectation dig a big place in my heart. I finally returned with the determination to help them in all possible ways. I was also equally very thankful to U.S.Embassy for this chance and StoryCycle for assisting me in my every approach and my team for their inspiration Presented by Pragyan Bhattarai,